Justa Junkie » Photography

Flash Lighting for Photography

Brian Paris — Sat, 31 Jan 2009 18:11:00 +0000

Check out this link to Strobist for a beginning lighting course in flash photography.

Here is a video of the quick overview that they do at the beginning of the article:

The whole lesson is broken up into many easily understood parts. They cover all the bases when it comes to using simple flash units as off camera lighting. The cover ways to mount your flash, different ways to sync (trigger) the strobe, along with accessories for shaping and placing light.

First Digital Pres. Portrait

Brian Paris — Thu, 15 Jan 2009 17:09:38 +0000

Barack Obama just had his picture taken. Nothing new for one of the most photographed people in the world, but this time it was a first. It was the first time that the official Presidential Portrait was shot with a digital camera.

The portrait was shot with a Canon 5D Mark II. Nice camera (dpreview.com). I have been a Canon fan since my 10D days, but this is a camera brings it to a whole new level. 21 MegaPixels, Full Frame Sensor and it shoots 1080p H.264 video. I’d love to get my hands on one to play with for awhile. Here are the camera details of the shot.

Even though I really like the camera, I was still a little surprised that they didn’t shoot with a larger format film camera. Maybe I need to get over my film self, but you still can get that same picture with a digital, (no matter how much I like it).

Not my favorite photo of the next President, but I guess it will work. It is really a pretty boring photo. Don’t like his outfit and I think the background is a little off. Pete Souza, Obama’s official Whitehouse photographer, took the picture. He has taken some great photos of the president in the past, and I am sure that he will get some good ones in the coming years. I guess that I just wanted something a little more. Maybe a halo or something

Souza has an interesting history. He was a photographer for Regan also. Can you imagine what it would be like to be that close to history on a daily basis. (Probably pretty boring most of the time). Here is an interview with Souza on NPR.

Additional Information: Yousuf Karsh, one of the best portrait photographers.

Photos with White Background

Brian Paris — Wed, 14 Jan 2009 18:40:12 +0000

I am sure that you have all seen photos with either a person or an product with a pure white background. Looks pretty simple doesn’t it? That is until you try it. Too much or too little light on the background can reek havoc on your final photo. Not to mention all of the light reflecting off of a white background. Zack Arias has a good article with all of the tips, tools and techniques of getting that perfect shot.

Press Photos

Brian Paris — Sun, 11 Jan 2009 16:51:06 +0000

Been looking for good press photos lately. I have found some good information at the National Press Photographers Association. They have contest each month for slideshows, video, and multimedia sites. They also have a yearly contest for still photography, photo editing, websites, and television.

Other Resources: AP, Reuters, Noor, and VII have some good examples of people who are working in Photojournalism. Also many online sites for newspapers are running best of the year slide shows. Just check your local paper to see what they have available.

I also found a good video that has David Burnett giving a master’s class presentation of his life as a press photographer.

Additional Information: Photojournalism on Wikipedia, 100 Most Important People in Photography on Pop Photo.